


The Things You See When You Haven't Got Your Gun

by MittenWraith



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Wings, M/M, POV Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 12:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19020412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MittenWraith/pseuds/MittenWraith
Summary: Sam sneaks a peek at Cas's wings through a pair of holy fire treated glasses, just trying to see something beautiful for once instead of another hellhound horror show. He sees far more than he could've ever bargained for.





	The Things You See When You Haven't Got Your Gun

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this in reply to a headcanon post back in March 2017, and just stumbled across it again today. I couldn't believe I'd never actually posted it on AO3, so here it is! The original post can be found [right here on tumblr](https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/158478405880/ltleflrt-i-dont-think-ill-ever-get-over-the). Bonus thanks to [ltleflrt](http://ltleflrt.tumblr.com) for the original prompt that sent me off on this tangent:
> 
> I don’t think I’ll ever get over the thought that Castiel probably always has one of his wings curved around Dean when they’re in the same room. It’s why the writers of the show can’t have Cas in close proximity while the boys are wearing the hellhound glasses. The secret would be out.

They stood around the Impala after some hunt or other. Sam had been minding his own business, his brain and body worn out from running, or fighting, or digging-- it hardly even matters which anymore. He remembers stashing his weapons in the trunk while Dean and Cas stood a short distance away, talking too low for Sam to hear their words. He doesn't really care, anyway. He'd accidentally overheard more than enough of their weird conversations to last a lifetime.

Sam tries to give them a few more minutes of privacy, because nothing's worse than actually being trapped in the car with the two of them when they get in one of these moods. It's partly celebratory, partly pure relief, but these tend to be the moment where Dean drops his guard around Cas, and Sam hardly wants to be the wet blanket when Dean actually looks purely happy for once. Fumbling around with the disorganized mess in the trunk at least gives him something to do while he waits out Dean's emotional high. The weapons are all back in order when he spots the holy fire glasses while he’s tucking a flask of holy water back into its compartment. And he thinks, heck, I’ve only ever seen horrifying things through these. Wonder if it works on angels as well as demons?

It couldn’t hurt to try, to just have one  _nice_  vision to hold in his memory for once instead of years of Hell-o-vision…

So he takes a nervous glance back at Cas and Dean, but they’ve got their backs to him. They’re completely distracted in whatever weird talk they’re having today, not paying him a bit of attention.

He still crouches down behind the trunk lid, just in case, and holds the glasses up to his face. He just wants a quick peek, just to satisfy years of curiosity.

And, oh! After he sees through the blinding glow of Cas’s grace, his first thought is heartbreak. He’s only ever seen them in shadow, but he remembers how magnificent even that glimpse had been. But now, Castiel’s wings are now painfully charred and broken, still bearing all the scars of the angel fall, but somehow even worse than he’d imagined after seeing the broken wing marks left behind by Ishim and Benjamin. Or maybe it’s just worse to Sam because Cas is his friend, and he can’t bear the thought of someone he cares about suffering through everything that turned his wings from their former glory into  _this_.

Sam blinks away tears, and then sees something even more surprising. He’d been too distracted by the shocking state of Cas’s wings to notice sooner. One of Cas’s wings, even as painfully damaged as it is, is carefully curled around Dean’s shoulders. Protecting Dean? Comforting him? And Dean doesn’t seem to notice.

Of course he wouldn’t notice, Sam thinks. Dean can’t see what he can through the glasses. He probably has no idea that Cas is still sheltering him, touching him, or maybe just trying to be close to him.  _Dean and I do share a more profound bond_. Maybe there was more to that assertion than Sam had ever credited.

But then he notices something he’d never really thought much about before. Dean leans back ever so slightly, pressing his shoulders more firmly against Cas’s wing. Cas smiles.

Does… does Dean know? Has he known all this time?

Cas resettles his wing just a little more possessively around Dean, and Dean smiles back at him.

Sam whips the glasses off and tosses them into the trunk, slamming it shut as quickly as he can. He’d wanted to see something nice for once, and he got a hell of a lot more than he bargained for…

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I feel kinda bad I haven't posted anything new in a couple months, but rest assured I'm busy drafting my entry for the 10th annual DCBB, and I'll be back to writing and posting as soon as I'm finished with it. Meanwhile, you can always find me over on the tumbls. I'm [mittensmorgul](http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com). You can find a direct link to the post for this fic [right here](https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185234768450/the-things-you-see-when-you-havent-got-your-gun)


End file.
